Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that under-represented communities in the West Midlands are involved in the work of the Public Broadcasting Review.

The Government’s strategic review of public service broadcasting (PSB) is about ensuring that viewers across the whole of the UK continue to benefit from a modern PSB system capable of meeting their needs now and in the future. To do so, the government and Ofcom have both engaged with stakeholders up and down the UK, including the West Midlands.

As part of their ‘Small Screen: Big Debate’ review of PSB, which the government’s strategic review draws on, Ofcom conducted research groups and stakeholder engagement meetings across the UK, including in the West Midlands. The Campaign for Regional Broadcasting Midlands also responded to Ofcom’s accompanying call for evidence on the independent production sector. These responses helped inform Ofcom’s final recommendations to the government which were published in July last year.